HAWTHORN youngster Xavier Ellis is likely to miss the entire pre-season cup after undergoing hip surgery.

Hawthorn confirmed on Friday that Ellis had an operation to repair cartilage in his hip and would be confined to rehabilitation before taking up light jogging for the next six to eight weeks.

Hawthorn’s football operations manager Mark Evans said Ellis would miss the pre-season competition, but that his availability for round one would depend on the speed of his recovery.

Ellis had carried a hip injury into the 2008 finals series and only decided to have it operated on after the soreness continued when he began pre-season training.

Ellis was dropped for the Hawks’ first final against the Western Bulldogs but came back to play a significant role in the preliminary final against St Kilda.

A week later he was Hawthorn’s highest possession winner in the grand final against Geelong, with 28 disposals and 14 marks.